Canada’s retail sales edged up 0.1% in June, helped by a jump in automobile purchases, but the overall trend remains weak, data from Statistics Canada showed on Friday.
The increase in sales was in line with market expectations and followed a 0.3% decline in May.
Sales at gasoline stations surged 3.8% in June, while sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 1.8%. Excluding these two sectors, retail sales were down 0.4%.
Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers, fell 0.5% in June, after a 0.3% increase in May.
In volume terms, retail sales were up 0.3% in June, driven by higher sales of motor vehicles and parts.
The data suggests that the Canadian economy is still struggling to gain momentum, despite the recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Retail sales are a key indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of Canada’s economic growth.
The Bank of Canada has raised interest rates four times this year in an effort to cool inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 8.1% in June.
The higher interest rates are likely to weigh on consumer spending in the coming months, economists say.
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